Chapter 159: Zhongtong Special Agent

A dead person?

According to the principle that the first person to find the corpse is extremely likely to be the killer.

Chen Yongren instantly turned his Scan Eye and Heart Sound toward the woman.

After confirming she was merely an innocent passerby, he asked: "What dead person? What's going on? Speak slowly."

The woman stammered.

It turned out that when she went to the alley to resolve some issues, she found a person lying on the ground, covered with a torn straw mat.

She assumed it was a hungover passerby and went over to glance at him.

She lifted the mat and saw that the man's complexion was deathly pale, his eyes straining to bulge outward—obviously a corpse.

She then went to the police station to report the case.

"Oh my, let me tell you, I was scared stiff—I've never seen a dead person."

"You have to catch the person, or I won't dare go out."

"A person has died—you can't just ignore it."

……

The woman kept chattering.

The person who was supposed to report for duty at the police station still hasn't shown up.

Chen Yongren didn't think much, and instructed a policeman: if anyone calls looking for him, say he's out on patrol and will return as soon as possible.

Chen Yongren then led a dozen or so police officers in a truck to the crime scene.

At the alley mouth where the body was found, crowds three deep on all sides gathered to watch.

Even before Chen Yongren spoke, the police officers pushed the crowd aside.

Seeing Chen Yongren approach with a grim face, passersby dared not utter a complaint and stepped aside, clearing a large area.

"There, the corpse is in there!" the woman pointed at the alley, still shaken.

Chen Yongren shouted: "Everyone, seal off the scene at once!"

"Old Han, go take their statements, noting down the names and contact information of everyone present."

"Remember, it must match their ID cards!"

"Yes!" Han Chen answered.

Chen Yongren added: "Also, ask them why they were here!"

"Even if they came just to take a dump, you have to ask where they buried their feces!"

"Anyone who refuses to cooperate—first lock them up in the police station!"

At Chen Yongren's order, the police officers immediately got busy.

Chen Yongren adjusted his uniform, then quickly walked into the alley with Huang Qifa and Zhang Haifeng.

A corpse lay on the ground.

He swept the area with his Scan Eye.

Too bad.

The Scan Eye displayed insufficient permission.

Looks like I still need to keep upgrading.

But with the Memory Extraction skill at his disposal, Chen Yongren felt no panic.

Crouching beside the corpse, he could clearly see the marks where someone had strangled the throat.

This method seems like something only used in the military.

Chen Yongren furrowed his brow slightly, pretended to examine the body, and placed his hand on the corpse's head.

Checking his memory a second earlier would also reveal who killed him a second earlier.

The next second.

Chen Yongren then felt a light cluster appear in his mind.

Inside the light cluster was his memory from a day earlier.

In the image, the sky had already brightened, clearly morning.

He was aimlessly wandering the street, his eyes scanning around, as if looking for something.

Following his gaze, Chen Yongren saw that he was looking at the second-floor balcony of a residential building.

The balcony was empty, with nothing on it.

His expression shifted, and he hurriedly left the area.

This is clearly a rendezvous signal—this dead guy was actually an agent too!

Did Boss Dai secretly dispatch a new agent team to Songhu?

Or were they agents of the Red Party?

Surely they couldn't be little Japanese devils…

Chen Yongren suppressed his doubts and continued watching the memory.

In the scene.

The man returned home, hesitantly smoking a cigarette, occasionally glancing out the window, then raising his hand to check the time.

Time had gone from morning to night.

After a few more hours, the man, as if having made up his mind, stubbed out his cigarette.

He turned and walked to the wall, opened a hidden compartment, took out a hammer pistol, and loaded bullets to fill the magazine.

After thinking, he also picked up a stick grenade and tucked it at his waist.

Damn it.

Seeing this, Chen Yongren couldn't help but curse.

I originally thought I could determine his identity from his weapon.

The result.

But it was merely a common bolt-action rifle and long-handled grenade.

These items can be bought on the black market as long as you have money.

The man took his gun and left the house, returning to that street again.

The balcony remained empty.

The man's face grew increasingly tense.

What was he waiting for the balcony to display?

A flowerpot?

Clothing?

Or something else?

If the items are different, might the meanings they represent also differ?

Chen Yongren thought to himself.

The scene continued.

The man kept loitering around the street; finally, unable to bear his hunger, he went to the roadside and ate a bowl of wontons, but his gaze remained fixed on the street.

Afterward, the entire scene showed him loitering by the street, his eyes occasionally glancing toward the balcony.

Finally.

When dawn broke, he finally saw a pot of cactus on the balcony.

Seeing this, the man's face lit up with obvious joy, he breathed a sigh of relief, and hurried toward the apartment building.

But as he walked, he sensed something amiss—someone seemed to be following him from behind.

Instead of rashly entering the apartment building, he tried to shake off the follower, quietly drew his pistol, and went into this alley.

The final segment of the scene is as follows.

Upon seeing the pursuer behind him, the man showed a relaxed expression.

Obviously.

The two of them knew each other.

But that person wore a mask; Chen Yongren could only see his eyes.

All that was seen was the man producing a document and lightly raising it.

Looking at the document, Chen Yongren was stunned.

Party Affairs Investigation Bureau?

The dead guy turned out to be an agent of the Party Affairs Office?

The masked man was named Jiang Fan, and his credential showed the rank of second lieutenant.

Unfortunately, his hand completely covered the photo.

The two exchanged a few words.

Just as the victim turned around, the man behind him suddenly struck from behind, strangling his throat.

The man was dragged into the depths of the alley, his consciousness gradually fading.

The last thing Chen Yongren saw was the man searching the corpse, taking his sidearm, credentials, grenade, and a letter.

There, the scene came to an abrupt halt.

Both the killer and the victim were agents of the Party Affairs Office.

But which of them was the traitor?

The damned memory extraction only has level one, so we can only see the images.

Without substantive evidence, relying solely on these images, we cannot view the matter with any subjective thinking.

After all, you could understand it as the Party Affairs Office conducting a sting operation to ensure the liaison point's safety, ultimately eliminating traitors and safeguarding intelligence secrets.

Equally, it could be understood as traitors appearing within the Party Affairs Office, killing their own.

Who is Jiang Fan, the killer?

What was written on the letter he took?

Chen Yongren never expected that a casually handled murder case would actually be linked to the Party Affairs Office.

"Ren Ge, what do you say?" Zhang Haifeng also clearly saw that the killing method resembled that of someone who had received professional training.

Huang Qifa wasn't stupid either; he looked solemnly at Chen Yongren, waiting for his order.

"Never mind all that, let's bring him back first and talk later." Chen Yongren said coldly.

I originally thought it was just an ordinary murder case, but getting involved with the Party Affairs Office complicates things.

Everyone had just returned to the police station.

Chen Yongren then received a phone call.

The call was from Fujiwara Chikata.

"Your Excellency, it's me, Chen Yongren." Chen Yongren sat up straight.

Hearing Chen Yongren speak, Fujiwara Chikata's tone became noticeably happier.

"Chen Sang, you're back?"